“We appeal to the international community and the UN to separate the humanitarian situation from the political interests of some countries, and to contribute to saving our people by supporting efforts to open this border crossing,” the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said in a statement on Sunday, referring to the al-Yarubiyah border crossing as the “basic artery of life” in Rojava.
Rojava “is suffering from a difficult humanitarian situation in all respects, especially after recent Turkish attacks, the presence of about five million people in the autonomous administration areas and the continuation of the siege imposed warns of severe humanitarian consequences,” the statement added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in March of the dire situation in Syria, calling on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to reopen “all three border crossings for humanitarian assistance.”
In July 2020, the UNSC passed a resolution to open Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria's rebel-held Idlib province, through which the UN is currently providing aid to Syria. But the al-Yarubiyah border crossing connecting Rojava to Iraq’s Nineveh province remains closed.
In 2019 and 2020, three border crossings were shut to aid after Russia and China vetoed the renewal of their mandates at the Security Council. Al-Yarubiyah was closed down in January 2020 which prevented the UN from delivering aid across the border.
A decade of war has crippled the country and left millions displaced and heavily dependent on humanitarian aid. The UN estimates some 13.4 million Syrians require humanitarian aid and protection.
Pressure is building on Russia at the UNSC to allow the extension of the mandate authorizing cross-border humanitarian aid delivery to Syria. The current mandate allowing aid deliveries to northwest Syria at Bab al-Hawa will expire on July 10.
Amnesty International said in June that millions will be put at risk from a humanitarian catastrophe if the Russians threaten to veto the renewal of the aid corridor, three days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said they would block it.
